Are You an "Early Market" or "Mainstream Market" Leader?
Innovations in Leadership
The most needed skill for leaders now is the ABILITY TO COACH DIRECT REPORTS. Based on the conversations I have with leaders every day, I estimate that we're stuck in the beginning of the "early adopter" phase of coaching as a leadership skill.
Why are we stuck in this phase? Most leaders (mistakenly) think they already know how to coach.
How far along are you in learning this skill?
Maybe you've read The Coaching Habit. That's great! You now have 7 questions in your toolkit. Learning how to ask powerful questions is PART of coaching.
Maybe you're a great listener. Wonderful! Your team members probably feel heard by you. But do you know what a coaching leader is LISTENING FOR?
Perhaps you've picked up another coaching book, like The Tao of Coaching by Max Landsberg or Coaching for Performance by John Whitmore. Awesome! Whitmore's book was the first one I read on the subject. It introduces a helpful FRAMEWORK, but it doesn't even hint at the ways to navigate it with any fluidity...much less in a touchy conversation with a direct report.
The reality is that coaching as a LEADERSHIP SKILL cannot be acquired by reading a book (or 12). Or by attending a 2-day workshop. Or even by going through a robust coach training program, like the one I went through at Georgetown University many years ago.
"WAIT!!!" you say.
"I understand why I can't get it from a book or workshop, but why," you ask, "wouldn't a full-scale coach training program work either?"
Here's why: those programs are designed to take people from all walks of life and turn them into professional coaches. Professional coaches are trained to hold no agenda other than their client's. And that will NEVER work for leaders. You always have an agenda—even when you're talking with someone about their personal development goals—because the outcome of the development conversation often has an impact on you and your team.
You Definitely Have an Agenda — and You Should!
What’s on your agenda?
Improved performance & results
Expanded capacity (increasing output without increasing headcount)
Increased accountability & ownership
Creative problem solving
Agile response to change
If you are a leader who is driven to deliver quality results while growing your people, then your training program must reflect the fact that you will be coaching with an agenda. Managing multiple agendas (yours and your coachee’s) simultaneously is one of the trickiest parts of coaching for leaders. And you won’t get even a taste of that in a typical coach training program.
If You Want to Be an “Early Market” Leader…
Before you choose to embark on mastering the skill of coaching, whether through Leader of Areté or any other means, answer these questions:
Are you willing to adopt a beginner's mindset? (Learning to coach will stretch you in ways you hadn't imagined. It is delightfully humbling and expanding for experienced and new leaders alike!)
Do you believe that people in general, and most of the ones that work for you specifically, have vast untapped potential? (You'll be learning how to tap into this endless wellspring.)
Are you willing to PRACTICE setting your ego aside (the part of you that sees yourself as the expert problem solver) and facilitate--not blindly delegate--the problem-solving process with your team members? (This is the BIGGEST struggle leaders have in learning how to coach, bar none.)
Can you clearly define your own agenda (the goals, intent, or expectations) as it relates to your direct reports? (If not, pick up this handy guide, and you'll be able to answer "yes!")
If you answered YES to these four questions, you're ready! The only question left is this...